BOLT: “and Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens”

BOLT (Be Out Loud Theatre) presents “and Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens”

The new Be Out Loud Theater (BOLT) premiered with the obscure Tennessee Williams play and Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens. And I mean really obscure. Google it. There ain’t much there. According to BOLT, the play (written in 1955) was never staged during Williams’s lifetime due to its themes of homosexuality and transgenderism.

This is a play that deserved to come out of the closet. The storyline is heart wrenching, but it is infused with humor, which the cast runs with merrily. Candy (Lance Gray) (a “queen”) is still hurting over the end of her longtime relationship. Her ex-husband walked out on her for a younger man, and Candy’s self-worth has plummeted. She is desperate for attention, so she brings home a broke, straight, drunken sailor, Karl (Chris Saunders), and basically offers to be his sugar mamma as long as he stays with her — no other strings attached.

Gray makes Candy both lovely and pitiful — like a wilted Southern belle. Candy is no steel magnolia; Gray carries Candy’s vulnerability like a red V emblazoned on her crinoline-lined frocks. Gray’s characterization captures the inflection and delivery needed to emphasize much of the script’s both humor and distress.

Saunders’s Karl is just … an ass, an oaf. Saunders makes it clear just how little Candy thinks of herself if this is the man she chose to bring home.

A loveable gay couple live upstairs. Gossipy and flamboyant, Joe Barsanti and Christian Condra are often comic relief and occasional commentary.

BOLT premiered with a profound play and an arresting production of it. The new company, initiated by longtime thespian Michael Swinford (who also directed the show), was created as an outlet for LGBTQ plays. Swinford summarizes it as “Remember. Honor. Celebrate.” Remembering the past and honoring those who fought the battles that pushed the community to its current status. But it also reminds us that there is still work to be done to insure that progress continues.